Smooth-surface crepe floor covering



Get. l, 1929. R. G. JACKSON SMOOTH SURFACE CREPE FLooxx covEaING Filed .June 6, l1927 coAr//va i c/EEPE mmm y con TIN@ Patented ocr. 1, l1929 PATENT OFFICE RALPH G. JACKSON, F WOODBURY, NEW JERSEY SMOOTH-SURFACE CRETE FLOOR COVERING Application Ied'J'une 6, 1927. Serial No. 196,814.

This invention relates to fioor coverings and to a process of making the same.

The floor covering provided by the present invention is of that general type known as smooth surface coverings, such as linoleum and felt base floor coverings having decorative paint coats, and the invention is an improvement over such materials known as bitumen impregnated felt base coverings, linoleums, oil cloth and the like.l

One feature of the invention is a decorative floor covering of the smooth surface type in which the decorative effects, patterns, and designs are applied directly to the material of the base and penetrate the base for part or all the Way through the thickness thereof from top to bottom. Another feature of the invention is that the covering possesses tensile strength to a pronounced degree, and may be handled similarly to the usual smooth surface fioor covering.

One advantageous feature of the product of this invention is the provisionin a single continuous ply or layer of floor covering of decorative eects similar in appearance to those used in linoleums and felt base goods, but having superior wearing quality due to the fact that the design extends into the base. This latter quality is in contrast to decorative effects which are merely painted on the surface or printed with paint on the surface, or consisting of ordinary paper merely printed as usual, as wall paper is printed and subsequently varnished or lacquered. The product of this invention is to be distinguished from the usual paper decorated by printing.

In usual printing operations the work is so conducted as to preclude as far as possible any substantial penetration by the ink into the 40 body of the paper. To such end most paper used in printing contains sizing or a filling material to prevent absorption of the printing ink. The surface of such paper is often calendered smooth and tight in order to present a satisfactory finish to receive ink from the printing type. Contrasted to such standard print paper, the material preferred for use in this invention is purposely selected for its fibrous qualities. These are absorbent papers, such as blotting paper and other especially manufactured absorbing papers which are not commercially desirable for printing purposes. Contrasted to printing practice, in this invention the decoration or figures will extend well below the surface of the sheet. In other words, the sheet may be worn down Well below the ori inal surface but the figure or decoration wil still remain in the sheet.

The product possesses the appearance of linoleum and is susceptible to treatment to produce much finer and more delicate designs than is possible in the manufacture of linoleum type goods. Unlike linoleum, the entire decorative portion possesses strength and Wearing qualities as a sheet and does not require a supporting base of fabric, such as the known'burlap base used with linoleum. Another advantage in the product resides in the fact that the covering has tensile strength, even greater than the bitumen impregnated felt base covering, and in contrast to such latter, the present product has its decorative effects extending into the thickness instead of being applied by painting or printing and remaining on the surface, as is common in felt base goods. A comparatively thin sheet of fibrous material l which has been saturated with a nitrocellulose lacquer and then calendered has as much or more wear to it as the best printed felt base rugs purchasable at this stage in the art.'

Of major importance is the feature which provides a rug or floor covering in which the coloring or decoration is sealed in the fibrous material of the covering by the same impregnatinggsaturant which provides the toughness and wearing qualities so desirable in floor coverings. According to this important feature the fibrous sheet is first decorated or ,colored and thereafter it is saturated with a water proof transparent saturant which not only seals thecolor and decoration in place but waterproofs 4the sheet and also binds the fibers of the sheet, toughens it, and makes it Wear resistant. The sheet is preferably calendered while yet the saturant is in a plastic condition and this treatment insures thorough saturation'for the sheet. All the pores and spaces between the fibers are filled and the particles are bonded together and Will not scuff oft under ioor usage.

The decorating of the fibrous base, preliminary to the saturating treatment, may be accomplished in several Ways. By one procedure, thecolor may be added to the paper pulp While it is in the beaters and thus prior to the actual formation of the sheet. In this Way a solid color base may be obtained. The color materials added at the beaters may be either a dye or pigment, provided that if pigment be used it is not of such amount or nature as to fill the spaces between the fibers and thus prevent adequate saturation by the subsequently applied toughening transparent saturant. The solid color effects may also be obtained by printing or dyeing with surface contact application to the sheet of a penetrating dye or stain which will saturate the sheet throughout.

Decorative designs are applied by printing and stenciling in restricted zones according to the configuration of the desired design, and multiple color effects are obtained, as Will be described.

Multiple layers or a single layer may be rused in the product of this invention. For example, a single thickness of fibrous base may be decorated either While in the beater stage or by printing after the sheet is formed and subsequently saturated in accordance with the details of my applications for patent Serial No. 46,189, filed July 25, 1925 and Serial No. 111,769, filed May 26, 1926. As another example a supporting base, 'such as a bitumen impregnated felt sheet, may be provided on one or both sides with a supplemental decorated sheet of either paper or paper felt, as described in my application Serial No. 46,189, filed July 25, 1925, or Woven goods may be `used in lieu of either or both sheets on the bitumen base, as described in my application Serial No. 196,815 and the sheets on the base may be in solid color or design as desired and with the decoration incorporated in the sheet and subsequently sealed in accordance with the steps hereinafter described and claimed.

Inlaid effects can be obtained by printing, as described, or by cutting sheets of felt into figures or shapes Which can be arrangeds in desired designs similar to inlaid linoleum. These figures Would be formed on a background such as a sheet of Water proof felt or burlap. After they have been placed on the background and secured with a glue or cement, the entire sheet may be saturated with an impregnating saturant of a transparent material such as a nitrocellulose lacquer. Itis obvious that the figures or shapes may be out from previously decorated paper having solid color or special designs, thereafter to` be saturated after mounting on the base. It may be also desirable to saturate the sheet previous to placing it on the back- .With th-e usual painted felt base r-ug. along with other products of this invention,

ground or even previous to cutting out the individual shapes and figures. If saturation is done after the sheet is placed on the background it Would probably be desirable to use a transparent binder or cement to lill in voids or crevices between the individual pieces or figures. It may also be desirable to put a layer of transparent Wear coating such as a cellulose ester lacquer on the surface of the completed covering, regardless as to how it may be constructed.

Floor coverings having the appearance of soft and velvety effects simulating luxurious carpets and rugs may be obtained by using solid color or design decorated crepe paper as the decorative sheet. This sheet of paper, embossed With a crepe effect, is mounted on the usual dense supporting base, as for example a bitumen impregnated felt base. When saturated and subsequently smoothed on one surface With transparent lacquer, crepe paper, light plain paper, becomes remarkably durable and compares favorably It,

has advantages over the usual painted felt base rug by reason of the fact that more delicate and more artistic eifects can be obtained by printing With penetrating inks or dyes than can be obtained by painting as performed in the preparation of painted felt base rugs. Paint leaves a surface coating which prevents the subsequent saturation, a necessary sequence in the present invention.

This particular inventionembodying the useof crepe paper in floor coverings is based on the broad principles described in the foregoing and in my applications for patent Serial Nos. 46,189 and 111,769 for the saturating of a sheet Which contains in the porous body tliiereof a decorative or color medium,

which latter is sealed in the goods by the saturant filling material.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, there is illustrated diagran'imatically a piece of floor covering embodying the -use of crepe paper on a supporting base. In this improvement the broad idea expressed in application Serial No. 46,189 is invoked for the decorating of the crepe paper sheet and the mounting` of it on the supporting base.

Referring in detail to the several views of the drawing, 1 indicates a tough, pliant base, such as the usual bitumen impregnated felt base as used for floor coverings; 2 indicates the crepe paper decorative layer, and which like the usual crepe paper is provided with irregular rippled or crepe lines simulating Waves or minute Wrinkles and all tending to extend in substantially the same direction. The paper 2 is afiixcd to the base by a cementing medium 3. f This cementing medium may be some particular variety of glue or, more preferably, it may be an excess of the saturating material With Which the crepe paper is CTI impregnated and saturated to render it tough and durable against floor usage. An excess of the saturant on the top surface of the paper yand comprising an upper wear layer or coating is indicated at 4. This excess may be applied while the crepe paper is being saturated, or it may be added as a supplemental coat, but in the preferred form it should be transparent in order to satisfactorily display the decorative patterns or fibrous particles of the crepe paper.

Referring to Fig. 1, the crepe paper layer illustrates the use of a tile effect in which alternate squares of blue and white are illustrated. The wavy lines are intended to represent thel crepe wrinkles.v

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, and greatly magniied.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary View taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1, and magnified even more than the View lof Figure 2. In Figure 3 only a portion of the base 1 is shown.

The crepe paper sheet 2 is indicated as having wavy lines for its upper and lower surface. yThe decorative effects of white and blue are indicated as extending completely through the crepe sheet, and this may also be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an edge View of a piece of floor i covering showing more nearly exactly the thickness of the goods as actually used. The sheet of floor covering bitumen felt is less than 1/8 inch as ordinarily used and the crepe paper provides a thickness slightly greater i than the usual paint coats of the commercial painted smooth surface floor coverings, and which paint coats normally may be measured by 1/1000ths of an inch. The same important advantage which was true in the invention of iny application for Patent 46,189 also applies to this invention. Both inventions provide for the use of a decorative sheet on a supporting base, the sheet being peculiar in that the decorative medium extends substantially through the thickness of the sheet so that after the sheet is subsequently saturated with a transparent toughening agent theV urating of thecrepe sheet may be performed before it is applied to the supporting base l, or the saturant may be applied after the sheet is laid on the supporting base 1. One of the importantdistinguishing features of this product is the appearance which is due to the light absorbing and non-reflecting properties of the crepe paper layer thus mounted on a supporting base and thus made serviceable as a ioor covering in accordance with the details of :first decorating and then subsequently saturating the decorated sheet.

Onev satisfactory coating material for the saturant filler involving the use of a cellulose ester may be made up from the following:

20 parts by weight of dry pyroxylin in a solvent `mixture composed of 30 parts by weight of either or both b'utyl alcohol or amyl acetate plus 30 parts by weight of anhydrous denatured ethyl alcohol. Preferably a drying oil is added, and resins and softeners may beincorporated as desired, as for example as softeners tri-cresyl phosphate or diethyl or dibutyl phthalate.

In lieu of the cellulose ester a vegetable resin or gum may be made the base of the saturant when incorporated with dibutyl phthalate or the like.

Another form of saturant may be made up with the use of so called gum-plasticizers, of which dibutyl phthalate may be considered one example. In this connection, the parts used may be as follows for a suitable saturant formula:

Gum or resin 100 parts by weight.

Plasticizer 40 parts by weight.

Modifier (such as waxes and oils) 10 parts by weight.

Colloidal particles (such as zinc oxide, mica, carbon black) 20 parts by weight.

Solvent 7 5 to 150 parts by weight.

The upper wear coat of the finished article may have a transparent coating of a durable wear material having a pyroxylin or 'cellulose ester base, or any transparent varnish will serve as the outer coating within the definition ofthis invention, although the cellulose type of coating is preferable. l p

The cement ylayer may be tinted or piginented since by the use of a pigmented binder the color of the base ,may be hidden, and this treatment may be particularly desirablein coverings having paper upper coatings which, to some extent, are somewhat transparent. A pigmented binder would prevent the unartistic nature of the base material from being too much apparent.

With the use of the cementing material, and particularlyapigmented or tinted cement, uneven surfaces on the base may be smoothed over or hidden. When a cement is used it is.

thus possible to have a coarser type of base than would be desirable if the decorative layer was placed direct-ly on a rough base. As a supplemental smoothing material a coat of paint may be applied to a sheet of black felt or to the surface of burlap, and thereafter the cementing medium may be used between the coated base and the decorativefibrous so far as its color is concerned and provide the layer. Such a paint coat would seal the base '130V base with a smoother surface to which to apply the upper decorative sheet.

`lVherever reference is'made to printing of artistic effects, it 'is presumed that the printing is done with dyes and penetrating inks, as contrasted to the usual printing with paint, as performed in paint coated and decorated felt base floor coverings in which paint is relied upon to provide a surface wear layer.

l. A floor covering of the smooth surface Variety Acomprising a tough flexible supporting base and mounted thereon a decorative sheet consisting of crepe embossed paper saturated substantially throughout its thickness with a transparent penetrating saturant filling material which is dense, tough and flexible and which seals previously applied decorations in said sheet and fills the pores between the fibers of the sheet.

2.' A floor covering of the smooth surface variety comprising a tough flexible supporting base and mounted thereon a decorative sheet having decorative coloring extending ysubstantially throughout its thickness with a transparent penetrating saturant filling material which is dense, tough and flexible and which being applied to the paper after -the decoration is applied seals the decoration in said sheet and fills the pores between the fibers of the paper, andan outer wear coat consisting of a vfilm of a transparent tough coating.

4, A floor covering of the smooth surface variety comprising a tough flexible supporting base and mounted thereon a decorative sheet having decorative coloring extending substantially throughout the thickness thereof and consisting of a fibrous sheet having wrinkles throughout its surface, and said of and consisting of crepe paper, an attach- -ing medium extending between said crepe In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

` RALPH Gr JACKSON.

fibrous sheet beingsaturated throughout with a transparent impregnating medium which permeates the fibrous particles and the spaces therebetween and acts to fix the position of the" wrinkles and fills p the valleysin the wrinkles on both sides of said sheet.

5. A floor covering of the smooth surface variety comprising a tough fiexible supporting base and'mounted'thereon a decorative sheet having decorative coloring extending substantially throughout the thickness there- 

